Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cup holder for a vehicle.
Description of Related Art
Known cup holders typically are formed as a single or twin cup holder having a substantially cylindrical receiving portion with diameters ranging from 52 to 85 mm. The cup holders furthermore typically include a number of fingers or holding elements to be able to hold beverage containers that have a smaller diameter than an overall diameter of the receiving portion.
The holding elements are usually made of a plastic material and are spring-loaded such that they can be retracted for the receiving portion to fit beverage containers that are greater than a minimum diameter of beverage containers that can be held in the receiving portion.
Such related art cup holders have various disadvantages. For instance, beverage containers having a relatively small diameter or a relatively tall height cannot be securely held and are thus prone to tilt in the receiving portion when subjected to forces acting on the beverage container due to various driving conditions of the vehicle.
Furthermore, the related art cup holders are mostly designed to accommodate beverage containers having a round shape, whereas beverage containers having other shapes usually cannot be held securely by the holding elements.
US 2017/0144577 A1 may include a cup holder for a vehicle including an internal cup having a cylindrical shape opened at an upper surface thereof to receive a beverage container through the opened upper face.
Moreover, conventional cup holders have diameter limitations, depending on a size and mechanics of respective holding elements.
Consequently, there is a need to further improve the cup holder.
The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and may not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.